Ok, this chapter might be a bit pointless but I just really wanted to jump straight into the real hardcore issue that this fic is all about, which will come to light in the next chapter. If you've already guessed feel free to speculate.

Also apologies if the other languages are crap. I'm not good with languages, plus, I had hoped to use more, but Word had major issues with it for some reason.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Dónde estoy?" asked Catalina nervously.

"Está bien, por favor no se preocupe. Usted está seguro." said Ianto, giving her that charming smile one would direct to lost children. Owen could only guess that he was saying that everything was ok. "Le gustaría algunos vino?"

Catalina nodded and Ianto disappeared into the kitchen. He returned with a large glass of red wine, and handed it to her. Then he left her alone while the others moved into Jack's office. Gwen took Jack's seat, an action that grated on Owen's nerves, but was really done for pure practicality.

"Couldn't you have given her tea Ianto? She's a bit young for wine." said Gwen.

"She's sixteen, Gwen. Besides, tea wasn't introduced into Europe until the 1600s and she's a century too early. I don't want to put the caffeine and other stuff into her system." said Ianto shortly.

"No way is that little thing sixteen." said Owen, glancing at Catalina through the glass window. She was about four foot eight, tiny and chubby cheeked.

"Well she is." said Ianto, folding his arms.

"Ok, when and where is she from and how important is she to history?" asked Gwen, resting her hands on Jack's desk. Her engagement ring glittered with the movement.

"It's January 1502 for her, she was in Ludlow castle with her husband and-"

"Husband?" blurted Gwen, eyes widening.

"Her grand-mother in law got married twice before she was 13, and had Henry VII at 13." said Ianto pointedly. "We are talking about a culture of low life expectancy and early marriage. Teenagers are a recent invention. You were a child and then you were an adult in Tudor times, no period in between."

Owen pressed on, "Ok, so she's married to Henry, and we have to-"

"Did neither of you pay attention in school?" asked Ianto, shaking his head, "She's not married to Henry, he's only 11. She's married to his older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, who's 14. They live in Ludlow. They married in November of 1501, and Arthur is going to die in April 1502. Seven years after Catalina will marry King Henry VIII and become Queen Catherine of England and Wales."

"And then Henry divorces her." said Gwen. Ianto shook his head,

"He doesn't start looking for a divorce until they've been married about 18 years, and this leads to the English Reformation. Basically, that little woman over there," Ianto pointed at Catalina who was draining her glass hungrily, "Is going to have a huge hand in completely altering England's religion, England's politics and England's royalty all the way to modern times, and, considering the influence of the British Empire, she's got an effect on the development of the whole of world history. If she's not sent back… everything will change."

Gwen looked from Ianto to Owen and then over at Catalina. Then she looked at Toshiko,

"Tosh?"

"I'll look into it, see when the next big Rift spike is due."

"We don't know how to harness the Rift." said Owen, "Last time we tried we nearly brought down hell on Earth."

"We'll figure it out." said Gwen, rising to her feet, "As Ianto said, this girl is very important to history and we have no right to mess with history. So we will figure out how to send her back."

"I'll go check the archives, see if there's anything there." said Ianto.

"Wait! What about Catalina? She'll need someone to help her communicate."

"Gwen she speaks Spanish, Latin, French and Greek. I'm sure one of you can help her out. Don't you speak French?" Ianto did not seem very keen to be tied to the young girl. This struck Owen as odd. Ianto tended to like helping people. Why did he want to avoid this one?

"Well… ok." said Gwen, looking a little unsure. "But I doubt my French will be good enough."

"She's spent the last few months trying to communicate with her husband in Latin when they've been taught totally different pronunciations. I sincerely doubt she'll mind."

Ianto left the room before Gwen had a chance to object. Tosh went to start the calibrations to predict the Rift activity and Owen hurried away before Gwen roped him into doing something else. Gwen drew in a deep breath and tried to recall her French as she walked over to Catalina.

"Bonjour, je suis Gwen." she said, smiling down at her.

Catalina looked up and seemed pleased, "Bonjour, je suis Catalina."

"C'est Tosh," Gwen pointed at Toshiko, who smiled over at them at the sound of her name. "Owen." She pointed at Owen who was pulling up a game on his computer. "Et l'autre homme a été Ianto." She waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the archives.

Catalina nodded, then stared at Gwen clearly with no idea what she should do, then she asked, "Ianto, il est votre serviteur?"

"Oh! No!" laughed Gwen, feeling slightly uncomfortable. There were times when she had to remind herself that Ianto wasn't a servant, he did so many of the little things and always kept them fed and watered. Maybe Ianto saw himself as a stable boy, and they were the horses, after all who knew what went on in his head.

Catalina stared up at Gwen as Gwen's awkward laughter faded away. Gwen cleared her throat and wished she could give the girl something to do, to read, anything.

"Erm… what kind of hobbies did they have in Tudor times Tosh?"

"Ask Ianto."

"Right. Ianto?" Gwen flicked her comm. system.

"Yes?" Ianto sounded wary.

"What sort of things would a Tudor princess do for fun?"

Ianto sighed thoughtfully, then said, "Get her some needlework stuff. That'll keep her occupied."

"Would knitting wo-"

"No."

"Ok. Ok." Gwen was bewildered by Ianto's sharpness. "Where would I get that stuff?"

"Look it up, how'm I supposed to know where you find stuff for needlepoint?"

"Right, well… thanks."

A little miffed, Gwen flicked off the comm. and grabbed her bag after checking for an embroidery shop. She lifted a hand and gestured at Catalina to stay where she was. The Princess glared at her for behaving like she was a dog. Gwen fumbled for the French.

"Je… serai de… retour."

Looking rueful, Catalina nodded. Gwen hurried out of the Hub and climbed into her car. It took a while but she was able to get a large amount of the various bits and bobs. She'd pretended that she was a historian trying to recreate the style and method of Tudor England. It seemed to help.

When she got back, Ianto was engaging Catalina in a conversation. Or was Catalina engaging Ianto? Ianto didn't look very comfortable, but he was clearly going out of his way to be polite.

"I come with gifts for the Princess!" called Gwen, waving the plastic bag in the air. Ianto took it and held it open to Catalina, no doubt explaining what was inside with his rapid Spanish. Catalina beamed and exclaimed,

"Gracias! Oh, muchas gracias!" and she dived into the bag.

"Y'know, she is taking all of this remarkably well." mused Owen tapping his pen to his chin. "Why is that?"

"I may have told her this was God's way of testing her strength and virtue." Ianto said, flushing.

"Ianto, I'm shocked. Using God in your lies."

"No different from the Pope does while he makes his prostitutes chase chestnuts on their hands and knees naked." muttered Ianto. Owen blinked at him.

"I'm sorry."

"No one appreciates just how much scandal you can find in a history book if it's not a school book." said Ianto, sounding long suffering. But his eyes were twinkling.

"No, no. Go back to the naked prostitutes bit." said Owen in an earnest voice.

"Oh that, it was just an annual event that a Pope or two liked to do."

"But Popes… they're Popes."

"Yes. And like all of us they are incredibly fallible. And unlike most of us they had the funds to indulge their fallacies. Only…" Ianto glanced at Catalina, "Don't tell her. She's an extreme Roman Catholic. Her parents started the Spanish Inquisition, hell she grew up with it. And she's no stranger to blood… usually blood of the Islamic faith seeing as her parents also re-conquered Spain from the Islamic people who'd held it for years."

"So… current political stuff not so new?" asked Gwen wryly.

"Not even close to being new."

"Right, Tosh, what's the good word on the Rift?"

"It looks like we won't have a strong enough surge of Rift activity until… seven days from now."

"So she's got to stay here until then."

"Exactly. We don't even know how to send her back yet, so the more time we have the better really?"

Ianto glanced at Catalina, who was now beginning to lay out her threads across her lap.

"We may need to buy some new clothes." he said.

"You're right, she can't wear that all the time."

"Not her for sure. An English woman maybe, but not her."

The three looked at him in astonishment.

"You really are a walking encyclopaedia, aren't you?" said Gwen with a grin. Ianto shrugged.

"I like the Tudor period."

"Do you also like the TV show?"

"… Their Anne Boylen is hot. That is the only reason I'd watch it."

"Not into Jonathon Rhys Meyers then?" teased Gwen.

"No. I'm too aware of how inaccurate he is as Henry. By the time he divorces Catherine, he's fat and he just gets bigger until his head looked like a potato."

"C'mon, you can't say Meyers isn't hot." laughed Gwen. Ianto drew himself up and folded his hands behind his back.

"I don't feel qualified to comment." he said, rather coolly and walked away, leaving Gwen feeling like she'd touched a nerve. But he and Jack had been… surely Ianto wouldn't have an issue with looking at other attractive men.

"He's in a weird mood." she said to Tosh, who nodded.

"Maybe it's just a bad week."

"But this is Ianto's thing. He loves history, and he just said he loved this period of history, and there's a living breathing part of it. Surely he should be acting like Christmas just arrived early."

"Considering Ianto's love for good timing I'd say an early Christmas would be something he wouldn't welcome." drawled Owen. Gwen and Tosh both smiled in amusement, but they were distracted when Catalina suddenly leaned forward and covered her mouth with a violent retching sound. They barely had a chance to stick a bin under her face before she was sick. The sound brought Ianto running back.

"What's happened?" he demanded.

"She's just been sick as you can see." snapped Owen, holding the bin as Gwen rubbed Catalina's back. "Might've been the wine. Or late after effects from the travelling through the Rift. Either way I'd like to check her out."

"That could be a problem." said Ianto as he followed Owen behind Gwen and Tosh, who were helping a pale Catalina to the Autopsy Bay.

"And why would that be?"

"Because Catalina was raised in an Islamic environment-"

"I thought you said she was a devout Christian."

"She is! But she grew up in the palace of Alhambra, in an Islamic life style, with all the covering of women included. She'll never let you touch her."

"Well I have to examine her."

"You'll have to get Tosh to do it, unless you want to enrage a princess who's used to getting her own way."

Owen sighed. "Fine. You'd better hope she's got nothing more than a tummy ache."

Next chapter real soon!

Night's Darkness